County administration takes on a team approach

New administrator working part time; Pommier now administrative assistant

Through some job description changes and skilled new hires, Grundy County now has a team of leaders.

Last week, Grundy’s new part-time county administrator, Chris Wittkamp, started her new job. In conjunction with her hiring, board secretary Sandy Pommier’s job has changed. Pommier is now an administrative assistant for Board Chairman Ron Severson and Wittkamp.

“It is kind of a team concept between . . . everybody is getting along and working well together,” he said.

The team meets daily to assign tasks and discuss what they are currently working on, said Severson.
Wittkamp, of Channahon, comes from an accounting background and will act as the county’s CFO handling the county’s budget.

“We chose the right person,” said Personnel Committee Chairwoman Vicki Geiger. “She has a lot of knowledge in budgets, finance, and grant writing. That could mean a lot of money coming into our county if she is successful with the grants.”

Since the position was originally posted last fall, the committee had at least a dozen applicants, said Geiger. There was an election in between that changed the committee members and the board went back and forth on whether to make the position part-time or full-time.

Wittkamp is working part-time making about $40,000 a year, said Severson. In addition to being an accountant, she has experience in government.

She worked for the U.S. Department of Interior’s Bureau of Land Management in Arizona, where she traveled to Washington, D.C., quarterly for budget planning, she said. She has also worked in construction, property management, non-profit work, and owned her own business.

“I think this team is going to make changes and good progress here,” she said.

Pommier was made an administrative assistant because she has already taken on administrative duties since the county has been without an administrator.

“We completely redid her job description to add in the duties she has already taken on,” said Geiger. “In truth, she’s been doing these duties for months.”

Last July, the then-administrator Shawn Hamilton left for another job. According to the budget, he was making almost $74,000.

Pommier is receiving a $6,000 raise for her new position, which will entail her previous duties as board secretary, as well as doing research for Severson and Wittkamp, among other responsibilities.

According to the budget ending November 2012, Pommier’s salary was about $40,000. She is full time.

“For what she has been doing, she is far more than just the board secretary,” said Severson.

With the new team approach and hiring Wittkamp as part-time, the county is saving about $40,000 in salary and insurance by not hiring a full-time administrator, Severson said.